


Faulty Memory

by AnotherLoser



Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-28
Updated: 2015-12-28
Packaged: 2018-05-09 21:32:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5556152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnotherLoser/pseuds/AnotherLoser
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Adam was a senior at McKinely when Kurt was a freshman, and now seeing him at NYADA maybe he can make up for the lost friendship.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Faulty Memory

**Author's Note:**

> Old, unedited drabble based off of a tumblr post I saw a while ago that I may continue.

Quite frankly, he all but forget that fluffy chestnut hair.  But he  _did_  remember now.

 

Four years is a long time to go without seeing someone, especially someone you didn't know all that well.  Adam was a senior in high school last time he saw Kurt Hummel, naturally a lot happened since then.  He moved to New York City, attended NYADA, got two jobs, started a show choir in the school, and was getting ready for his second off-broadway show.  Adam did well for himself.  Nothing was perfect, as life tends to go, but he could definitely say he was in a good place now.  He was never negative exactly, but there was a difference between success and a complete stereo type of the struggling college student.  Hence the two jobs.

 

But it only took one look at that boy's face to stop and rewind back to that senior year back in Ohio.  Adam wasn't out, knowing the kind of environment McKinely was.  He was relatively thinner and softer, he dressed simpler, he generally blended in with the rest of the crowd.  Granted, he was far from invisible, but he was certain that it was mostly because of the charm an accent held.  Well, that and he  _was_  still attractive and athletic.  That alone pretty much guaranteed enough respect in that school that he could sit wherever he wanted at lunch.

 

Kurt wasn't like him though.  Kurt was a freshman.  Short, high voiced, effeminate, a little skittish, and too proud for his own good.  It wasn't hard for Adam to see through that icy exterior.  He remembered the first week of school, seeing the small boy being grabbed by two football players - the rest in tow - and thrown into a dumpster.  Besides the fear of the social ladder and punishment for the action - as demonstrated by the current situation itself - there wasn't anything Adam could really do to stop it.  It was already done by the time he got across the parking lot.  The most shameful thing was that the Spanish teacher saw them just moments before and just waved.  How could someone be that blatantly blind?

 

Adam jogged over as the jocks went inside the building, and reached his hand into the metal box for Kurt.  It took a moment, but he accepted the help and hopped back down to the ground.  "Thank you."  He muttered, dusting himself off and trying to look at his backside to check for stains.

"Don't mention it.  Are you sure you're alright though?"

"While it  _is_  the first time I've been inside the dumpster, I'm fairly used to this treatment."  He said simply.  He had already accepted it, hadn't he?  That this would be his life for the next four years.

 

"I'll take your word for it."

 

And that was all they said that day.  He didn't know the boy's name, and he wouldn't for another month, but he knew that this really  _was_  going to be his life.  It was crushing in a way.  Surprisingly so considering they didn't know each other.  But still, every morning was the same.  Adam didn't stop the harassment, no, but he'd be there to help Kurt afterwards.  They'd subtly eye each other in the halls, too quickly for anyone to notice.  Kurt seemed to be trying to blend in at the time, but there was no way it would happen.  The way he  _walked_  was feminine.  He'd be tripped and shoved and simply spit an insult back at the offenders.  Unfortunately, that much rebellion was always crushed when they actually heard him.  At that point he shrunk himself back into his shell rather quickly.  Kurt was too unique for this town, too unique to stand there and not say anything.  It didn't take knowing him to know that he could leave Lima, or that he deserved to use his bite to it's full potential.

 

So Adam did what he could.  He started helping Kurt with getting slushies out of his hair, and sending smiles his way instead of brief glances, talking for as long as they could after the dumpster dive before the first bell.  It helped for a while.  He pretended not to see the lingering looks Kurt gave him or the sheer admiration for the help.  Bringing up the boy's crush wouldn't really help them.  Adam couldn't say that he felt the same, but he still liked Kurt, so he dismissed it entirely.  Wether or not that was morally right was never determined.

 

He remembered specifically a day when Kurt started to dress more like himself.  Less T-shirts and more button-ups.  Slowly he added in brighter and tighter pants, coats, messenger bags, and boots.  He was leaving his shell in his own way.  Kurt held his own, and held on tight.  When Adam asked if he was ok or commented on the stupidity of the school, Kurt would simply snort and say "That's their loss.  When graduation comes I'll be the one heading to New York and they'll be cleaning out septic tanks."  or something of the like that would make Adam chuckle.

 

In return, he also remembered the day that he regretted too deeply to really ever forget.  Two months away from the end of the school year, Kurt wasn't in the dumpster.  Adam actually waited for him there for a minute before it occurred to him where else they might take the small boy.  Low and behold, Adam found Kurt behind the building and surrounded by the hockey team.  The difference between the hockey and football teams was that the football players had a system.  They had their 'jobs' in the school, so to speak.  They handled the dumpsters and the slushies and specifically, Kurt.  It was like a turf war between lowly small town gangs.  The hockey team were the loud ones dumping lunch trays on people and experimenting with the few acts of harassment the other team hadn't taken control of.  They were still a peg below football, after all.  They weren't organized like the football team either though.  At least those guys didn't go for injuries.  They shoved people, sure, but dumpsters usually had trash to break the fall and they weren't knocking people into corners or anything.  They didn't go for that kind of damage.

The hockey team did.

 

Kurt was being held by the front of his shirt by one, his arms restrained by another, while the first spat insults in his face.  He was forced to his knees soon enough, and the first kick came right after.  Adam couldn't do anything, for a reason he will never know.  He couldn't yell, couldn't stop them, couldn't do anything but  _watch_  from around a corner.

 

He doesn't remember what exactly they said anymore, but he knew it was partially his fault.  Kurt's mooning over him wasn't subtle in the slightest.  That part wasn't his fault, but he should have stepped up.  Said that Kurt wasn't trying to 'turn him gay' or stalk him, that they were worthless for treating anyone this way.  But he didn't.  That was really all he remembered about that day.

 

He knew that Kurt still had a swollen lip when he came to school three days later.  He said that his dad was over-reacting by keeping him at home.  The football team left him alone until he was healed and Kurt halfheartedly joked that he should get beat up more often.  Adam frowned.

 

There was a blur of time leading up to his graduation that Adam didn't remember.  Mostly it was full of studying and rehearsal and making sure he applied to colleges he'd enjoy. He remembered only waving to Kurt when he left on his last day of high school. He remembered Kurt trying to smile for him.

 

 

 

It's been four years now though, and here they were. Back right where they had been before, but slightly different. The Kurt Hummel here, at NYADA, was a freshman again. Now however, he couldn't be called cute too easily. He'd grown taller, with broader shoulders, defined muscle, a strong jaw, and dear god that was only the tip of the iceberg. If asked to point out the physical features of Kurt, that would have been all that was needed. But it was so much more than that. The confidence and ease in which he moved was incredible. He chuckled while his partner and he slipped up the step they were supposed to be doing and his voice was deeper than four years ago, but honestly not by too much.

 

Adam barely realized that he had frozen in the doorway when he was passing it, glancing in just a moment ago. He hadn't loved Kurt back in high school. He thought he was a cute kid and he enjoyed the boy's company, but it couldn't be mistaken for more than platonic. And yet here he stood, absolutely taken aback by the man in that room. His heart skipped a beat, he was positive.

 

Adam stepped to out of the way while the class was given their instructions to practice before being dismissed. He didn't actually think about what he was going to say to Kurt, but he apparently was going to miss part of his next class in order to say it.

As Kurt stepped out of the room, a grey jacket now zipped up to cover himself and a bag over his shoulder, Adam nearly missed his chance while simply watching him. Quickly snapping himself out of it, he began walking in the same direction as Kurt.

“Kurt. Kurt Hummel?” Adam called after him.

 

After a short moment where Kurt simply stared up at him, seemingly awestruck, he opened his mouth to reply. “Adam.” He said breathed.

 


End file.
